Tobacco container



19.70 M. BJUNDO'RE 3,524,535

' msAcco CONTAINER I Filed'Novv, 1968 4e 5o 40 52 54 IINVENTOR;

MARK T 46 B DUNDORE I BY o I 44 My Z A TORNEY United States Patent 3,524,535 TOBACCO CONTAINER Mark B. Dundore, 6 Heritage Cove Court, Casselberry, Fla. 32707 Filed Nov. 7, 1968, Ser. No. 774,039 Int. Cl. A24f 15/00 US. Cl. 206-41.1 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tobacco container having mounting means thereon and including a compartment for storing and discharging tobacco into a pipe held in proper position in an adjoining pipe receiving compartment, the tobacco being dischar ed by a selectively operable plunger assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Pipe smoking has long been a pastime with many men and particularly with sportsmen and executives. As any pipe smoker well knows, however, a great deal of paraphernalia is needed, and at times, storing the tobacco and the pipe and charging the pipe bowl can be a very busy operation. Several devices have, in the past, been presented to permit the easy storing and charging of a pipe bowl. In most instances, however, the available devices have been less than satisfactory. They were generally complicated to operate, requiring two hands, in some cases, to open the compartment covers, operate the changing apparatus, or just to hold the container. Obviously, someone interested in operating such a device would appreciate a tobacco container which is portable, easily attachable to his belt or other clothing, or some other member and that can be operated with the minimum of effort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a unitary tobacco storage container which can be easily manipulated to fill a pipe.

Another object of the invention is to provide a plunger assembly which is selectively operable in response to insertion of a pipe in a pipe receiving compartment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pipe receiving compartment whch is open at one end to receive a pipe and which is provided with retaining means therein which insures proper alignment of the pipe bowl with respect to an outlet formed between the tobacco storage compartment and the pipe receiving compart ment.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a tobacco container which is completely portable and which may be attached to a users belt, or other article of clothing or on a stand or rack.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS- FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the tobacco container;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken, as indicated, on the line 22 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a side view partially in section and partially in elevation and taken as indicated by the irregular line 33 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 44 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a detail plan view of the plunger assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view illustrating the plunger assembly in its pipe filling position; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view illustrating the plunger assembly in its locked position. v

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, a tobacco container 10 is provided with an outer casing 11 which encloses a pipe changing compartment 12 and a tobacco storage compartment 14. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container is made of a front half 16 and a rear half 18. A vertical intermediate common wall 20 is disposed between the outer casing walls and serves to separate the tobacco storage compartment 14 from the pipe receiving compartment 12. In normal use the container 10 is disposed in a vertical manner such that the compartments 12 and 14 and common wall 20 are also vertically disposed.

So that a unitary structure is formed, the container halves are provided with locking means to hold them together. The rear container half 18 is provided with a groove 22 in the outer walls and a groove 24 in the common wall 20. The front container half 16 is provided with tabs (not specifically shown) which are engageable in and retained by the grooves 22 and 24. The arrangement is partially shown in the upper right portion of FIG. 2.

The tobacco storage compartment 14 isv provided with a slidable cap 26, a bottom wall 28, an outlet 30 and a discharge port 32. An outlet means is comprised of the outlet 30, discharge port 32 and sloping wall 34. The outlet means forms a suitable means of communication between the tobacco storage compartment and the pipe receiving compartment and its function will be further described in detail hereinafter.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 6 and 7, a plunger assembly 36 is comprised of a cylindrical plunger 40, a tab 42 fixed in a rearward grooved portion of plunger 40 by a pair of rivets 43, or the like, and a horizontally disposed, slidable actuating lever means 44. The lever means 44 is provided with a depressed upper surface 46 (see FIG. 5) in which is. disposed a flat spring 48. A screw 50 is adapted to engage one end of spring 48 and securely fix the spring in the depression 46. At the outer end spring 48 there is provided a catch element 52 which is mounted on the spring by a rivet 54. The catch 52 is normally biased outwardly of the depression 46 by the spring 48. The tab 42 is also fixed to the lever means 44 by the screw 50 so that the plunger, tab and lever become an integral plunger assembly.

The plunger assembly 36 is disposed beneath the tobacco storage compartment 14, as shown in FIG. 2. The entire assembly is slidable toward and away from the outlet means, the common wall and the pipe receiving compartment. The tab 42 moves axially through a slotted cylindrical bore 56, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 6 and 7. Disposed in the bore 56, between the common wall 20. and tab 42, is a coil spring 58 which serves to bias the plunger assembly away from the outlet means. The plunger 40 is slidable in a cylindrical bore 60 which is open at one end, the discharge port 32, to communicate between the compartment 14 and compartment 12. The plunger 40 is axially slidable in bore 60 to force a charge of tobacco into a waiting pipe bowl.

The pipe receiving compartment 12 is provided with pipe retaining means 62, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 7. The retaining means 62 is comprised of spring material having a base portion 64.which is disposed against one outside wall, a pair of L-shaped leg members 66 and 68, and a U-shaped end portion 70. The legs 66 and 68 are integral with the base portion '64 in the manner shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The base portion 64 is bowed slightly outwardly away from the side wall, as shown in FIG. 2. The U-shaped portion 70 is provided with a. bearing member 72, having a bearing surface 74 thereon. A screw 78 extends through the casing halves and is adapted to retain them and the retaining means 62. The U-shaped end portion of the spring 62 is engaged by the screw.

To permit the container to be mounted on an article of clothing a stand, or the like, there is provided a mounting means 80 which, in this instance, is comprised of a belt clip 82, mounted in the casing by rivets 84, as shown in FIG. 3. The rivets extend inwardly into the casing into cylindrical chambers 86 to retaining means 88 which are fixed to the end of the rivets. A coil spring biasing means 90 is disposed about the rivets between one end of chamber 86 and the retaining means 88. In this manner the belt clip is always biased toward the casing, holding the container close to a users belt, as shown in FIG. 3. It will be understood, however, that the same type of clip may be used to mount the container or any other desired object.

In operation, when it is desired to use the tobacco container, the tobacco storage compartment 14 is filled with tobacco by sliding cap 26 away from the pipe receiving compartment 12. Once the compartment is filled the cap 26 is slid back over to close the container. The plunger assembly is disposed in the position shown in FIG. 7, sealing the outlet means. The assembly 36 will remain in this locked, or sealed position because the outwardly biased spring 48 and catch 52 engage the common wall 20 preventing the plunger assembly from being retracted.

A pipe is then inserted in the pipe receiving compartment with the bowl thereof positioned toward compartment 14, as shown by the phantom lines in FIG. 2. The pipe bowl and a portion of the stem are engaged by the retaining means 62 so that the bowl rests on U-shaped portion 70 and bottom portion 64 while being disposed between the spaced apart leg members 66 and 68. In this position the opening in the pipe bowl is located symmetrically with respect to the outlet means, and particularly with the discharge port 32.

In order to charge the pipe bowl with tobacco from compartment 14 and to provide a tamping action by the plunger in the pipe bowl, the plunger assembly 36 must first be drawn back to the position shown in FIG. 2 so that tobacco will fall from compartment 14 through the sloping sides 34 and the outlet 30 at the base of the compartment into the path of the plunger. To do this it is necessary that the catch 52 on the plunger assembly be released. This is accomplished by depressing the pipe further into the compartment 12 against the bias of U-shaped end portion 70. Since there is nothing under the bearing 72, the end portion 70 yields enough to permit the bowl to engage the catch 52 and force it downwardly into the depression 46 of lever means 44. In so doing, the catch is freed from engagement with the common wall 20. The plunger assembly 36 can then be slid laterally to the left, as viewed in FIG. 7, so that catch 52 engages the under surface of bore 56, as shown in FIG. 2. The assembly is then slid laterally to the right, as shown in FIG. 6, so that tobacco is forced ahead of plunger 40 into the pipe bowl. To insure proper alignment of the pipe bowl with the discharge port 30, the bearing 72 and its associated surface 74 engage a complementary bearing surface 76 formed on the inwardmost edge of lever 44, as shown in FIG. 7. In this manner it is impossible to depress the pipe further into the compartment 12, thereby providing firm support for the pipe bowl. If more tobacco is needed in the pipe, the process can be repeated.

As can be seen, the plunger assembly is also useable as a seal for the bottom outlet of the compartment 14. The assembly is selectively operable upon introduction of a pipe into the container to release the catch. It will also be understood that the entire operation can be done using only one hand, since once the catch is released by the depressed pipe bowl, the spring bias on the assembly returns the assembly to the position shown in FIG. 2.

4 It will also be understood, by those skilled in the art, that only simple operations are necessary by the user to fill his pipe, since there are no covers to remove or swing in place and the bowl alignment is completely automatic.

The tobacco container hereinbefore described eliminates all excess paraphernalia and since the container is easily carriable, it may be useful in a variety of different environments.

While this invention has been described in connection with a single embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the embodiment is capable of modification and that this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains, and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A compartmented container comprising in combination:

an outer casing;

a tobacco storage compartment in said casing;

a pipe receiving compartment open at one end and disposed in side by side relation in said casing with said tobacco storage compartment being separated therefrom by a vertical common wall;

outlet means at one end of said tobacco compartment for communication between said tobacco compartment and said pipe receiving compartment;

pipe retaining means in said pipe receiving compartment for aligning the pipe with said outlet means;

a selectively operable plunger assembly disposed below said tobacco compartment and slidable with respect thereto toward and away from said outlet means to convey tobacco between said compartments, said assembly including a biased catch means engageable with said common wall for locking said assembly against movement away from said outlet means, said plunger assembly being operable only when a pipe is depressed in said pipe receiving compartment; and

means on said outer casing'for mounting the container in a desired manner.

2. A compartmented container, as recited in claim 1, wherein said tobacco storage container has a removable cover and said outlet means comprises an outlet at the bottom of said tobacco storage compartment, and a discharge port in said common wall permitting communication between said tobacco storage compartment and said pipe receiving compartment, said plunger assembly being operable to convey tobacco through said discharge port.

3. A compartmented container, as recited in claim 1, wherein said plunger assembly further includes a cylindrical plunger slidable in a horizontal bore disposed beneath said tobacco storage compartment, a tab fixed to and depending from said plunger, actuating lever means disposed in spaced relation to said plunger and slidable with respect to said compartments, said actuating means having a depression in the upper surface thereof and said actuating means being connected to said plunger by said tab, and means engageable with said tab for biasing said assembly away from said outlet means, said catch means being disposed in said lever means depression and biased outwardly thereof.

4. A compartmented container, as recited in claim 1, wherein said mounting means on said casing is biased toward said container casing.

5. A compartmented container, as recited in claim 1, wherein said pipe retaining means is comprised of a biasing element having a base portion, a pair of opposed leg portions integral with said base portion and an end portion having a bearing surface thereon, all of said portions being engageable with a pipe bowl to retain and align the pipe bowl in said pipe receiving compartment with respect to said outlet means.

6. A compartmented container, as recited in claim 5, wherein said bearing surface on said retaining means end portion cooperates with a bearing surface on said 5 plunger assembly during the charging of said pipe, to firmly support the pipe bowl and as said plunger assembly is slid away from said outlet means, said bearing surfaces disengage permitting said pipe bowl to move downwardly into said pipe receiving compartment into engagement with said locking catch forcing it to disengage from said common wall and permitting said plunger assembly to be slidable away from said outlet means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,001,242 8/1911 Berg 206-411 2,303,167 11/1942 Loether 206-4l.l 2,556,712 6/1951 Thayer et a1. 20641.1 XR

10 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner J. M. CASKI'E, Assistant Examiner 

